India made an outstanding start to the three-match ODI series against South Africa, winning the first game by 17 runs at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi on Sunday. Before Kuldeep Yadav and Harshit Rana combined to limit the visitors to 332, Virat Kohli led the way with his 52nd ODI century.
In a video that quickly went viral on social media, stand-in captain KL Rahul was seen cutting a cake at the team hotel to celebrate the victory. While the festivities were underway, Kohli — who was named Player of the Match — entered the lobby and saw Rahul cutting the cake. But he didn’t stop to participate in the celebrations. He ignored the calls and continued straight past the group, making his way to the elevator.
Gautam Gambhir seen talking with Rohit Sharma at the team hotel while the Indian team was celebrating their victory by cutting a cake. pic.twitter.com/iw6ld3PCv4— (@rushiii_12) December 1, 2025
In addition to this, another video doing rounds on social media showed Kohli completely ignoring Gambhir while entering the dressing room. The videos emerge amid rumors that the ODI setup are facing problems in relation to coach and the senior pros.
Kohli completely ignored gambhir after win pic.twitter.com/XNBwPZPN0q— ADITYA (@Wxtreme10) December 1, 2025
As reported by Dainik Jagran, Gambhir's chemistry with the two senior batters has changed. “The relations between Gautam Gambhir and senior players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma aren’t as good as they should be, and there could be a meeting regarding the future of the two players. This could take place either in Raipur or Visakhapatnam - venues for the second and third ODIs,” the newspaper quoted a BCCI source as saying.
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According to the report, there has been a strained connection between Kohli and Rohit and the selectors, which was apparent during the October tour of Australia.
India have won two of their last four ODI games, with either Kohli or Rohit been named Player of the Match. After winning Player of the Series in Australia with scores of 73 and 121*, Rohit scored 57 in Ranchi. Meanwhile, Kohli recovered from consecutive ducks to score 74 and 135 in the last two games.
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